The Finances of Precariously Employed Participants: With the Canadian Financial Diaries Research Project, Phase One Participants

Abstract

This summary is the second in a series describing the financial health of low- and modest-middle income participants involved in the Canadian Financial Diaries Research Project. The participants in this group were purposefully selected because their employment situations during their participation in the project rely on one or more casual and part-time jobs. These jobs are sometimes in the informal sector, often with small employers, and not very secure so that these jobs and the associated income could be described as precarious. The goal of this summary is to provide the reader with a glimpse of the lives and financial practices of seven precariously employed participants to better understand both the barriers and opportunities which impacted their financial well-being.

Keywords: personal finances, poverty, precarious employment

JEL Classification: I32, G23